


phase shift

by allegrolines



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Nerdiness, Ultimate OTP: Jooheon/music
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-15
Updated: 2015-11-15
Packaged: 2018-05-01 18:30:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5216228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allegrolines/pseuds/allegrolines
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He’s completely fascinated by now—maybe it’s just because of the impromptu music talk itself, but there’s also something to be said about the way Jooheon has started speaking faster and faster, the way he’s blushing faintly, leaning towards Hoseok like he needs to make sure he has all of Hoseok’s attention.</p>
            </blockquote>





	phase shift

**Author's Note:**

  * For [chobimonster](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chobimonster/gifts).



Hoseok steps off the treadmill on shaky legs, sweat dripping down his face and neck. He grimaces at his own reflection and chugs the rest of his water bottle. At the other side of the gym, Hyunwoo does the last of his shoulder presses and lets go of the dumbbells with a clank of metal.

“Ready to head back home?” Hoseok asks him, still feeling a little short of breath.

“Yeah,” Hyunwoo says. He takes his phone out of his gym bag and frowns at the screen. “Ah, wait,” he says. “Sungchan hyung says we have to check on Jooheonie.”

“He's still at his practice room?” Hoseok asks, glancing at the clock. It’s way past the time Jooheon was supposed to be back at the dorm, and Hoseok wonders what can be keeping him upstairs.

Hyunwoo shrugs. “I think he sleeps there, sometimes,” he says.

“Let me shower and I’ll go find him,” Hoseok says, chewing on his bottom lip. “You’ll tell Sungchan hyung to wait for us?”

“Mhm, of course.”

Hoseok goes to the locker room; both his t-shirt and shorts are sticking to his skin, and he peels them off, unlaces his sneakers and steps out of them. He shampoos his hair briskly and rubs the company’s herbal-scented body wash on his skin, letting the warm water wash the sweat and soreness away afterwards. Hoseok towels his head and puts on clean socks and underwear, steps into his softest pair of jeans and layers a long-sleeved shirt over his tank top, zipping up his hoodie on top of everything else. He can still feel the effects of his last cold lingering in the itchiness of his throat and the way he wakes up coughing in the mornings, so he spends a little extra time making sure his hair isn’t wet, pulling faces at the mirror while he blow-dries it. Hyunwoo walks in while Hoseok is finishing picking up his stuff, and Hoseok waves at him before grabbing his duffel bag and leaving. 

There’s a sliver of light shining from under the door of Jooheon’s cubicle, but no one replies when Hoseok knocks. He turns the handle and pushes it open, and there’s Jooheon, sitting on the floor with his legs folded and an open book on his lap. The hood of Jooheon's jacket is pulled over his snapback, the visor shadowing his face, and Hoseok can see he also has his headphones on, his left index finger tapping a rhythm against the spine of the book.

“Is that one of my books?” Hoseok asks, standing motionless at the doorsill with the handle still in his hand.

Jooheon’s head snaps up. “Hyung?” he asks back. He tugs his earbuds off and blinks up at Hoseok. “What are you doing here?”

“Sungchan hyung told us you hadn't left yet,” Hoseok says. 

“Oh,” Jooheon says, taking off his phone to check the time. “ _Oh_ , it’s kinda late already.”

“It is,” Hoseok says, and then, “you’re reading my book.”

“Yeah,” Jooheon says, his thumb rubbing along the edge of the cover. “Uh—Sorry I took it without asking you first, hyung.”

Hoseok thinks about all the books on music theory and composition he’s bought, unread and stacked high on the desk at the dorm, and feels his ears heat up a little. 

“It’s fine, Jooheon-ah,” he rushes to say. He looks down at the page Jooheon was reading when he came in—it looks like he’s already more than halfway through it. “Is it good?” Hoseok asks, moving a few steps closer.

“Well, I disagree with some of the ways they define music, kind of?” Jooheon says thoughtfully. “I mean—I don’t understand music like they explain it in here, you know? But the stuff about structure is actually really cool.” He closes the book, leaving his index between the pages to mark his place. “Can I borrow it for a little bit longer, hyung? I’d like to finish it, if you don’t mind.”

“Ah, yes,” Hoseok replies. “Sure.” Hoseok looks away and clears his throat. “Hyunwoo and Sungchan hyung are waiting for us downstairs, so let’s go now, okay?”

He stands in the hallway while Jooheon packs his stuff and switches off the lights of the room. Hyunwoo is already in the van when they get to the building’s parking, and Sungchan hyung scolds them lightly for taking so long. Hoseok apologizes and climbs to the passenger seat, fastening his seatbelt and leaning his head against the window. When he looks in the rear mirror, Jooheon is asleep on the backseat, Hoseok’s book hugged to his chest. 

\---

Hoseok’s parents always believed in the value of a well-rounded education, and so Hoseok used to do a lot more after school activities than most of his classmates. As a result of this there are many things he has an idea of how to do, but sometimes he feels like there’s nothing he truly excels at. Since he started training to become an idol, Hoseok has been working very hard to get better at music, not only asking for extra vocal lessons but also trying to learn as much as he can about arranging and composition. He still doesn’t think he’s particularly great at it, but it makes him happy, attempting to come up with ideas for a song and then putting them together, shaping the vague thoughts and feelings he has about how he wants something to sound into an actual track. 

“This isn’t working,” Hoseok groans into his hands. He pauses the preview of his current project, clicking the mouse with more force than it’s strictly necessary, and fights the urge to wipe all his unfinished files from the computer.

“Why not?” Jooheon asks, peeling a tangerine at his left. When Hoseok only manages to make a vague noise, wordless and frustrated, Jooheon starts poking him on the ribs. “No, seriously, hyung,” he insists. “Why isn’t it working? What’s wrong with it?”

“I don’t know!” Hoseok protests, trying to get away from Jooheon’s prodding fingers. “Something about the rhythm’s off,” he ends up saying.

“Okay, that can be your starting point, then,” Jooheon nods. He leans back on his chair and starts nibbling on a tangerine segment. “Focus on the beat and try to work out what you think are its weak points.”

“Ugh, _fine_.” Hoseok takes a deep breath. “I like the way these parts sound,” he says, moving the cursor over them, “so that means the problem should be in one of the percussion sections?”

“Don’t ask me,” Jooheon says gently. “This is about _your_ idea.”

“I’m not that sure about my idea anymore, Jooheonie,” Hoseok admits.

“It sounds good, you know?” Jooheon says. “I really think it does. And you’re very good at making arrangements and writing melodies, hyung.”

Hoseok wants to tell him arranging a song isn’t the same as writing a new one from scratch but he figures Jooheon _knows_ that already. 

“Your version of ‘Caffeine’ was so beautiful,” Jooheon says suddenly. “Did I ever tell you? It worked so well with everyone’s voices, and it was obvious how much thought and care you put into it.”

“Oh,” Hoseok says, “thank you”. He looks away, a little embarrassed, fidgeting with the zipper of his hoodie. They rarely talk about the past unless someone brings it up in interviews, and Hoseok hesitates, trying to think of something to say. His eyes land on the small row of books that stands neatly next to the TV. “Have you finished that book already?” Hoseok asks.

Jooheon blinks for a brief moment, like he’s waking up from a dream, and then his whole face lights up.

"Yes!” he exclaims. “Once I read past the first few chapters it got very interesting like, there’s this part that talks about layering and using melody patterns and stuff—I’d like to write something like that, I think.”

“Oh?” Hoseok says.

Jooheon nods. “So you take an idea for a short melody, or for a rhythm,” he begins, “and then you set it so it repeats itself, like a loop. Then you do the same with a different instrument, or a different voice, and layer them so the two loops play at the same time, and keep doing this until you have as many parts as you want. So from those simple elements you end up building something way bigger, right? Because all those loops will play at the same time in the end.” He stops for a moment, takes a deep breath. “But then you can also make each part more complicated, too—make them shift and change little by little, the notes or the beat or both. Oh, actually, I was listening to this song the other day—”

“But wouldn’t it sound boring?” Hoseok cuts him off, even though he’s completely fascinated by now—maybe it’s just because of the impromptu music talk itself, but there’s also something to be said about the way Jooheon has started speaking faster and faster, the way he’s blushing faintly, leaning towards Hoseok like he needs to make sure he has all of Hoseok’s attention. “I mean, if it’s the same thing over and over again,” Hoseok adds.

Jooheon beams at him. “That’s the thing though, hyung,” he says. “Each part’d be different, and you wouldn’t have to start with _all_ of them together since the very beginning.”

“So if you introduced them at different times, each addition’d change the way the whole thing sounds.” Hoseok pauses, considering how a song like that would end up coming together. “ _Oh_ ,” he says.

“Exactly!” Jooheon says, bouncing on his seat a little. He stops, then, going very red for some reason Hoseok can’t understand. “Actually,” Jooheon says, “there’s obviously stuff like layering and repetition in some of our tracks already, in parts of them at least, but—I don’t know, I just thought it’d be cool to do a whole piece just like that sometime, you know?” He trails off, looks away from Hoseok. “But that kind of song would be difficult to combine with vocals, and it wouldn’t have the right structure anyways. So probably there’s no point in starting something we wouldn’t be able to use, especially when we’re already so busy now.”

Hoseok stares at him for a moment; in his head, he can almost hear the music Jooheon has described, can imagine the way everything would click together, like clockwork pieces or dancers spinning in circles around each other.

“You should write it, Jooheon-ah,” he says, reaching out and putting his hand on Jooheon’s shoulder. “It could still be the intro track to our next album or—or an interlude!” Jooheon stares at him, looking startled, but Hoseok keeps talking, his fingers curling into the fabric of Jooheon’s sweater. “And so what if we didn’t use it in the end?” he says. “ _I_ ’d still love to listen to it.”

There’s a moment of perfect stillness—and then Jooheon’s eyes glance down at Hoseok’s mouth, just the tiniest flicker of movement, and—

“Hyung,” Jooheon whispers. 

“ _Yes_ ,” he replies.

—Hoseok leans in and kisses Jooheon. 

Jooheon’s mouth tastes like the tangerine he was eating, sweet and a little bitter, and he parts his lips easily when Hoseok licks at them, kisses Hoseok back like he’s been doing it for years—like he’s been wanting to do it for years. Hoseok slides his hand from Jooheon’s shoulder to his neck, presses his thumb under Jooheon’s jaw so he can tilt his head a little to get a better angle. One of Jooheon’s hands is at his side, just over his waist, and Hoseok presses closer to him, tugs at Jooheon’s lower lip with his teeth until Jooheon gasps against his mouth.

There’s nothing hesitant about the way they kiss, but it isn’t rushed either. Hoseok licks into Jooheon’s mouth, and Jooheon opens up for him with a little sigh, soft and warm, keeps pulling Hoseok towards him—until they overbalance and topple backwards, falling to the floor in a heap of limbs. Hoseok just manages to cushion Jooheon’s head before he knocks it on the tiles, and then Jooheon is shaking under him, laughing while he covers his own face with his hands. Hoseok drops his forehead against Jooheon’s collarbone, feels the first chuckles bubble out of him too.

Jooheon quietens after a while, puts his hand on the back of Hoseok’s neck and squeezes it gently, his thumb rubbing little circles on the skin behind Hoseok’s ear. When Hoseok raises his head Jooheon has his eyes closed and there’s a small smile on his lips.

“Your fans will kill me, hyung,” he says.

“Oh,” Hoseok replies, too lust-drunk to come up with something better. He wonders if this means their first kiss will also be their last. 

Jooheon looks up at him and smiles wider. “It’s fine, though,” he says softly, and then pulls Hoseok down until they are kissing again. 

It’s been a long time since Hoseok has been able to take his time making out with someone else, and it doesn’t even matter that the floor isn’t really the most comfortable place to do it. He gets a little lost in the slide of Jooheon’s tongue against his, the warmth of his mouth, the way Jooheon whimpers when Hoseok shifts a bit and one of his legs ends up between Jooheon’s thighs. Hoseok can feel him, hot and half-hard against his hip, and he just wants to keep going, wants to keep moving until he makes Jooheon come in his pants.

“Jooheonie, wait,” he says, pushing himself up to his knees. The change of position doesn’t help him that much—Jooheon is still sprawled and flushed under him—but this way at least Hoseok doesn’t have his weight on Jooheon’s dick anymore. Hoseok _wants_ so much, can feel the thrum of arousal under his own skin, but he also knows they can do much better than this. 

Jooheon blinks. “What’s wrong?” he asks.

“We can do better than this,” Hoseok replies, trying not to feel too self conscious about saying it out loud. 

“Oh, that’s—well,” Jooheon giggles a little to himself. “My turn in the shower’s just after yours today,” he says. “I guess we can… combine both. If you want to.”

“I want to,” Hoseok says—too fast, too eager, a part of himself can’t help but think, but Jooheon looks as pleased and willing as Hoseok is feeling.

“C’mon then,” Jooheon says, and they both scramble to their feet, their movements far from graceful and controlled. Jooheon stumbles over his own feet and ends up standing half draped against Hoseok’s side, laughing while Hoseok turns to him and throws an arm around his waist, kisses the tip of Jooheon’s nose just because he can.

“Hey, Jooheon-ah,” Hoseok tells him, “maybe we could write that song together.”

Jooheon hums happily, leans further into Hoseok’s space. “I look forward to it, hyung.”

**Author's Note:**

> "In a phase shifting process, two or more performers begin repeating a pattern in unison. At one point, one of the players increases [their] tempo very slowly and gradually until [their] pattern is one rhythmic unit ahead of the other player's pattern. The process of progressive acceleration may continue at will, and the repeated patterns may further become out of sync by two, three, four, or more notes."
> 
> This fic is 100% self-indulgence; I have nothing else to say for myself.


End file.
